Oak Bluffs Library Plans Are Studied; October Start Seen

By CHRIS BURRELL

Groundbreaking for construction of the Island's newest and
largest library may begin sometime in October if bids - set to be
opened less than a month from now - fall within the $3.2 million
budget.

The roughly 15,000 square foot library will rise up behind town hall
on Pacific avenue in Oak Bluffs, replacing the tiny quarters on
Pennacook avenue.

The word library comes to us from the Latin librarius , meaning of, or relating to, books. But anyone visiting the Oak Bluffs Public Library on a Thursday afternoon might find such a definition sorely outdated.

A plan to convert the old Oak Bluffs library at the corner of Pennacook and Circuit avenues into a mixed-used commercial building with a pharmacy on the ground floor and affordable housing on the second floor has hit a snag, as bids for the project were substantially higher than expected.

The Oak Bluffs library will be one of the first libraries in the country to be part of Google’s new indoor mapping project.

Sondra Murphy, the acting library director and children’s librarian, said a representative from Google’s Cambridge office e-mailed her “out of the blue” after finding the library’s floor plans online and asked if the library wanted to participate in the project.

“Okay, let’s do it,” Ms. Murphy recalled thinking.